—Ruyi listened to his entire drunken rambling with surprise.

The intoxicated Shen Qiyuan had lost his cold shell, fragile enough to shatter at a touch. He struggled to lift his head to look at her, his eyes both red and stubborn.

If this had been long, long ago, she would certainly have been moved by his appearance. After all, who wouldn’t like a young gentleman who was completely infatuated with them?

But after thousands of years of wind and frost had passed, when Ruyi looked at this young man with his sincere devotion, she could only want to laugh and pat his head.

Don’t be foolish, Qingqing. Whether gods or demons, or humans, devotion to one person from beginning to end is just a beautiful illusion. They each have their insatiable desires, different thoughts at various stages, and more suitable companions in appropriate years.

No one continues to wear the swaddling clothes they were born in when they grow up.

Licking the last drop of wine from the cup’s rim, she smiled and lifted Shen Qiyuan, supporting him as they walked toward the guest room.

Shen Qiyuan was still murmuring: “I have never… blamed you…”

“Mm-hmm.” She responded perfunctorily, “I’ve never blamed you either.”

“You… don’t blame, you just… don’t remember…”

“Mm-hmm, I remember, I remember everything, be good.”

After placing him on the bed and covering him with bedding, Ruyi lifted her skirt and went downstairs, cheerfully calling to Fuman and Yanning: “Have you listed out the menu Lord Shen personally selected and the fine dishes Marquis Ningyuan carefully chose?”

Fuman smiled and nodded at her. Zhao Yanning had a cloth tied around his mouth for some reason. He pointed at the packed main hall, gave her a thumbs up, then pushed her to help serve dishes.

Today’s efforts hadn’t been wasted. With hired shills secretly creating atmosphere and Shen Qiyuan and He Zeyou presiding, even those who still harbored doubts about the wine house were willing to come join the excitement.

As long as the reputation was reestablished, what was there to worry about a lack of customers?

Calculating on her abacus, Ruyi glanced outside.

Several people were acting suspiciously around Shen Qiyuan’s carriage. After some investigation, they hurried away.

Humming lightly, Ruyi shook her abacus beads: “Fortune turns in cycles—now it should be our Grand Preceptor Liu’s turn to have a headache.”

“A headache about what?” He Tinglan came over to ask.

Seeing her come out, Ruyi smiled: “When your brother came earlier, where did you hide?”

“Just in the second-floor guest room.” Mentioning He Zeyou, He Tinglan still seemed somewhat listless. “I could hear his voice when he spoke.”

Her brother had always been unscrupulous in his pursuit of advancement—she knew this. But truly facing such matters directly, she still felt disgusted.

However many vows of eternal love he had once spoken to Liu Ruyi, that’s how disgusting he was today. Such a person truly wasn’t worth entrusting one’s life to. Fortunately, Ruyi had awakened early.

“I don’t want to marry anymore.” She said softly, “If possible, I’ll be your manager for life.”

Ruyi smiled and said, “Whether to marry or not is up to you. I won’t urge you—as long as you’re happy.”

He Tinglan looked at her deeply and suddenly understood what Fuman had been gesturing about that day.

The Great Qian’s moral teachings truly couldn’t constrain her, and she wouldn’t use them to constrain any young lady. As long as you followed her, she would teach you new ways to live.

Smiling with relief, He Tinglan looked upstairs: “Does Lord Shen need sobering soup?”

“No need.” Ruyi’s smile was teasing, “He looks good even when drunk.”

However.

Ruyi stopped her fingers, suddenly feeling a bit curious.

Had Shen Qiyuan been trying to get her drunk earlier? After getting her drunk, what did he want to hear her say?

Taking advantage of the crowd, she hired two more workers. With things manageable downstairs, Ruyi went upstairs again.

The person on the bed looked very uncomfortable, his face flushed, brow tightly furrowed, fingers gripping the bedding tightly.

Ruyi sat beside him, watching, unable to help but swallow.

Such an alluring appearance—she couldn’t let him get drunk outside in the future.

She extended an index finger and placed it beside his hand. As expected, he immediately grasped it tightly. When Ruyi raised her wrist, his hand followed upward like a hooked fish unwilling to spit out the bait, trembling.

“You like me?” She touched her chin meaningfully.

Shen Qiyuan suddenly released his grip and tremblingly turned away.

“Oh, you don’t like me.” She shook her head regretfully.

Perhaps it was too noisy—the person on the bed half-opened his eyes, bloodshot veins spreading from the corners to his pupils, staring at her in a daze.

“Are you dizzy and uncomfortable?” She crossed her legs and picked up a cup of tea. “Want to drink?”

Though she asked, she didn’t hand the cup over to him at all.

Shen Qiyuan reached up to support his forehead and struggled to sit up and lean forward.

She deliberately pulled the cup back with a mischievous smile.

Glaring at her with annoyance, he supported himself and slowly moved forward again, his thin lips touching the cup’s rim as his whole body naturally pressed against her embrace.

Ruyi closed her arms around him, gently patting his back: “Drink slowly.”

When the cup was empty, he looked up with hazy eyes, beautiful like amber hiding stars.

She lifted her chin slightly and proudly pointed to the corner of her lips.

He seemed to hesitate, or perhaps his reactions were slow. After a long while, he slowly supported himself upward, pressing his eyelids against her lips.

Ruyi couldn’t help caressing behind his ear: “Ziyan is so good.”

Shivers ran up his neck. Shen Qiyuan grasped her wrist and shook his head.

“Mm, you don’t want to?” Her eyebrows moved slightly. “Then who was it yesterday who disregarded propriety to tangle with me?”

“When the crescent moon hangs in the sky, demons will want men. If not me, it would be someone else.” He said seriously, “Better it be me than.”

Ruyi was stunned.

He knew demon habits this well?

“I won’t lose lifespan, and I won’t tell anyone.” He pulled her hand up and slowly placed it over his eyes, his nose bridge clear and straight. “I am the best choice.”

That was true. Ruyi nodded in agreement and smiled again: “So, may I kiss you?”

Last time he had said to ask before intimacy—she had asked.

His eyes softened. Shen Qiyuan nodded seriously and slowly, only reaching out to stubbornly pull out the coral hairpin from her hair and throw it far away.

She smiled and leaned down to him.

Amid pleasure and satisfaction, Ruyi inevitably thought of someone again.

She hadn’t thought of him for a long time. After that great battle, the two seemed never to have met again. But when her body was held tight by the person beside her, pressed firmly against his heart, she seemed to hear his voice.

“I could never love a demon. My people wouldn’t allow it either.”

“But such matters are ordinary for both you and me—no need to take them to heart.”

“Farewell forever.”

…

“I hate you.”

As consciousness returned, that voice had only spoken these last three words.

Ruyi irritably pried open his hands, turned over, and grasped his chin: “Even like this, you still hate me—young gentleman’s heart is quite hard.”

Shen Qiyuan kept his eyes tightly closed, as if trapped in an inescapable nightmare. His teeth pressed against his tongue and bit down hard.